Kathleen Moriarty – 1951 – 2023
We pay tribute to Kathleen Moriarty, a vibrant and amazing wāhine who contributed significantly to Playcentre over 36 years. Alongside husband Tim, Kathleen and their three children (Ana, Paul and Louise) spent many happy years at Lepperton Playcentre in Taranaki, first starting in 1987. Kathleen stayed at Playcentre when her youngest moved on to school. As her children grew older, Kathleen dedicated her time to supporting Playcentre at the regional and national levels, as well as branching out into the wider ECE sector with a career in ECE lecturing at the Western Institute of Technology Taranaki. Kathleen was honoured as the Patron of Lepperton Playcentre and a Life Member of the Taranaki Playcentre Association. Outside of Playcentre, Kathleen enjoyed her very important job as Nan to Molly and Mia, and was active in the dragon boating community.
Kathleen’s passion within Playcentre was in mātauranga adult learning, and she was instrumental within the adult education programmes in Taranaki Association and nationally, as well helping to bring the Space programme to Taranaki. Kathleen also spent 20+ years as a facilitator on the Playcentre Professional Learning & Development (PLD) team, travelling around the country to visit centres, provide workshops and facilitate leadership programmes for whānau and staff in Playcentre. Since her passing, we discovered that Kathleen was often “room buddies” with new facilitators when they joined the team. It is only in hindsight that we recognise that this probably wasn’t coincidental – Kathleen valued manaakitanga, and took it upon herself to quietly and carefully awhi new members onto the team with care and patience. The self-proclaimed “tuatara of the team”, this label was apt. Within Māori legend, tuatara are kaitiaki guardians of knowledge, and this description suits Kathleen well with her vast knowledge and ability to see the big picture. While Kathleen was generous in sharing her knowledge with others in Playcentre, she leaves a giant tuatara-size hole in the PLD team and we will miss her dearly.
Tributes to Kathleen’s family can be left via Eagers Funerals
We farewell Kathleen, our friend and kaiako – enjoy paddling on your next adventures.
Ehara ko te ia o te wai
Ehara hoki ko te pupuhi o te hau
Engari ko te whakatika kē o ngā rā
Ka tae or ate waka ki uta
It is not the direction in which the current flows
Nor is it in the direction which the wind blows
Rather it is the setting of the sails
That enables a canoe to reach its destination
